Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Labyrinth of Lies

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they acquired North American rights to Giulio Ricciarelli’s directorial debut Labyrinth of Lies from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on a true story, exposes the conspiracy of certain prominent institutions and government branches to cover up the crimes of Nazis during WWII.

Labyrinth of Lies will have its world premiere on Friday at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is produced by Claussen + Wobke + Putz Filmproduktion in co-production with Naked Eye Film Production and stars Alexander Fehling (Inglourious Basterds, Young Goethe in Love), Andre Szymanski, Johann von Bulow and Friederike Becht (The Reader, Young Goethe in Love) and Gert Voss.

In Labyrinth of Lies, the economic miracle is changing the life of Germans in post-war Germany 20 years later. Most of them are sick of the war and prefer to push their guilt to the back of their mind. When a journalist (Andre Szymanski) identifies a teacher in the playground as a former guard from Auschwitz, no one wants to take notice. But a young prosecutor (Alexander Fehling) takes on the case and cant even be stopped by his boss. During his research he realizes that some Germans claim that they never heard the expression “Auschwitz,” while others try to forget about it. As the resolute prosecutor doesn’t give up, the Attorney General Fritz Bauer (Gert Voss) retains him to take charge of the investigations. Struggling with an overload of information, the young attorney blunders into a labyrinth of guilt and lies where he almost gets lost.

“Of all the films available for acquisition at the Toronto International Film Festival, ‘Labyrinth of Lies’ is the gem under the rock. A riveting, true story about witnesses to atrocities during WWII Germany and the aftermath in post war Germany in the 20 years that followed. This is a great movie and the birth of a major new European filmmaker. We are so happy to be once again in business with Beta Cinema, a company that continues to provide us the very best films (Lives of Others, The Counterfeiters) out there. We look forward to presenting Labyrinth of Lies to the American audience,” stated Sony Pictures Classics.

Director/Co-Writer Giulio Ricciarelli added, Having SPC as partner in the US is a dream coming true. I feel that SPC has love and respect for European movies and the skills to sell it to the American audience.”

“We are very proud and honoured that Sony Pictures Classics picked ‘Labyrinth of Lies.’ From the very beginning Sony Pictures Classics was our first choice. We feel in very good hands and it is great to see Michael, Tom, Dylan and the whole team, believing so strongly in this film,” stated Beta Cinema’s Managing Director Dirk Schuerhoff, who negotiated the deal for the film.

Sony Pictures Classics has partnered with Beta Cinema previously on Oscar winners The Lives of Others and The Counterfeiters, Oscar nominee In Darkness and the recent released the Notebook (Le Grand Cahier.